The good Lord has graciously called home his servant, Archbishop Emeritus Gregory Yong, on Saturday, 28 June 2008 at 1440hrs at his residence at St. Joseph's Home. He has done his best in fulfilling his heavy responsibility of shepherding the flock of Singapore for over 23 years (1977 - 2000) and the Lord has now called him home to enjoy forever his eternal reward.

It was significant that the good Lord decided to call him home on the eve of the Solemnity of St. Peter & Paul, the great princes of the Apostles and a special day for Bishops. It is also beautiful to note that on 1 July 2008, Archbishop Emeritus Gregory Yong would have celebrated his 40th Episcopal Ordination Anniversary. The eternal Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ, has wished to bless Archbishop Emeritus Yong with the perfect gift for his 40 years of apostolic service in the episcopal order by taking him home to enjoy forever his embrace of love and peace. What greater reward can a disciple ask for?

The body of former Catholic Archbishop Gregory Yong will be placed at the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd at Queen Street on Monday. The funeral mass will be held on Wednesday 1330 hrs, followed by the cremation at Mandai Crematorium.

Let us be united in giving thanks for the life and example of our late Archbishop Emeritus Gregory Yong as we prepare as a local Church to bid him farewell till we meet again in the feast of heaven.

source: http://kampungpunggol.blogspot.com/

after an entire week of parades including coc on sat, my well deserved rest finally came over the weekends. not forgetting i could finally send my uniform for washing! hee. both events were no doubt memoriable and eventful, as they turned out also to be opportunities to once again reminisce the good old cadet days of myself marching.

caught the movie zohan, which turned out quite disappointing. don't know if its lame or humourous. nonetheless, a good movie to relax to.

back to the harsh reality, there's a pile of revision and projects waiting to be cleared for missing school the past one week. sigh. i still miss the guys at syf though. :)

to the special people and new friends belonging to the smallest but also most outstanding contingent! thanks for making the week so enjoyable and fulfilling. it was your great company that motivated and supported me through the hectic week of juggling trainings, school and project work. (:

do give me a couple of days to find a site and upload the photos for you all to download. shall provide a link here when thats done! once again, thanks you guys!

this has probably gotta be one of the worst weeks ever. im missing out on minimal sleep due to the fact ive recently found out that the nyaa deadline is this friday and only started on its report last saturday, having 18 months of crap to recall and written down... OMG! syf hasn't been of much help either with trainings from 8am to 8pm daily, and being served one meal every two hours, in the aircon, and having plenty of free time. how to not fall sleep like that? im turning grumpier as the days increases and the sleep decreases. sign of aging? haha. 50 pages down... probably about another 20 more to go before it all ends! leonard can do it!

one down, five projects to go, and three of which are due next week. what a tiring tiring week with the many 'activities' over the weekend! thankfully, the assignment due today was started relatively early and hence there wasnt any last minute work to be done. the feeling of sitting back and relaxing while watching the last minute chiongsters rushing their way through the night before submission day was rather rewarding. ha ha ha! well, i owe that to my ever efficient groupmates no doubt. gosh, i just realised the days ahead in the current week are gonna be completely filled with parades begining tomorrow to saturday with syf and coc, all in a single uniform. haha, yeah mann... i can already imagine the smell by the end of the week. whoo... :)

syf flag bear training today at amoy quee camp was cool although the sun was totally the opposite. ended up with a number of abrasions due to the tight sweaty jeans that only proved to be an inconvenience while doing drill. the whole body especially my arms got a little sore from training with the pole and holster... geesh, probably it would take some getting used to.

nonetheless, that didnt stop me from paying a trip down to safra yishun to check out the shooting range, since it was only around the corner. hah, im rather itchy to take up shooting as a next past time. they've even got a m16 shooting range, can train early for ns also. why not? haha. but heard saf is in the midst of implementing the sar21 for bmt use, so thats just something to look forward to. unfortunately my schedule wasnt able to entertain its 3 days orientation course, so guess the hobby will just have to wait. ):

2008 hasn't proved to be a start too good. a month into the year and news of a close relative's unexpected passing away hit the family. sadly, it didn't end there but followed with a few others... not forgetting the tragedy of the two ns men whom i truely feel for and families i keep in my prayers. its just a reminder how fragile life is, and a wake-up call for us on the way we've been treating our loved ones, for me at least.

at this point in time, i ask God for his mercy, strength and protection over a friend's family, who's member in the family has recently departed. may his soul rest in Your everlasting peace and presence.

my poor baby had to spend five days in two different workshops to get fixed up, after its battery died, and for some what reasons, there were eletrical wiring issues. probably due to the mechanic not installing my airhorn properly a couple of weeks back. damn. 30 bucks for the tow, 100 for the battery replacement and another 20 to remove the airhorn which installation i paid an extra 20 for, the week just before camp. and now im paying another 20 to get it out. ridiculous, but guess i feel safer that way as piaggios just aren't made for modifications, not to mention a three wheel bike that workshops have hardly laid their hands on. parents are right when they say maintaining a vehicle in singapore is expensive!

hence im selling my just-two-weeks old pair of stebel airhorns (made in italy, haha). interested parties please message!

back to camp on monday for yet another jtc, and probably the last for me. this time, plenty of bonding... and never enough of sleep, but all worth the effort!

huge thanks to all who helped out in making it such a memoriable one! not forgetting to mention, whoo, im impressed the fdcomp still remembers their steps so clearly. well done guys! :D

thinking back, im grateful for the fact that my parents never really opposed to my non-stop red cross activities since the very beginning. i would say, they are the type who would allow me to get burn in order to learn that something's hot, in that instance, allowing me to fail academically, to learn that probably theres a screw up in my time management that needs to get rectified, or perhaps, there are some things which just need more attention. but of course, there would be consequences to face. nevertheless with guidance from the right sources, it all turned out nothing less than fine.

these days, its not a surprise that parents are disallowing and worst, discouraging their kids on this and that, especially when it comes to red cross activities. the fact is, while building up one's IQ is essential, shouldn't his/her EQ be given equal opportunities to develop? this would include the individual's character, self-esteem, confidence, independence, sense of ruggedness, adventurous spirit, time management, responsibility, and all of it that you just don't get to learn in a classroom. now, aren't those qualities ever more necessary to survive in today's competitive environments than IQ alone? really, how far can parents shelther their kids before we start realising the harsh realities of life and start trying to overcome them...

though red cross is far from a perfect uniform group/cca, it has benefitted me in ways i'd never expect and be able to receive elsewhere. from the proficiencies... planning processes... responsibilities... to experiences, and etc, they have all built me up to have the confidence to take on any obstacle ahead of me today and tomorrow...

and for that, im every bit thankful.

though common test is just this week, everyone's way into the holiday mood by now. projects are going well this time, probably as a result from lessons learnt on past bad experience, and mugging is only at its minimal as there's not many papers. better still, no final year project! hahaha, chosing service management as a major is definitely one of the best decisions made so far. well, not exactly that its slack, but i guess its something i can see myself in ten years into.

we've grown... evident by the last pic :D LOL. and happy bday to yuanhao! you must be enjoying yourself in camp right now. ha ha ha.

friday night - clarke quay

saturday night - st james

sunday night - boat quay

hahh, what a sinful weekend.